eBook downloads, eBook resources & eBook authors
"Examines the new emphasis on text-dependent questions, rigor, and text complexity, and what it means to be literate in the 21st century"--P. [4] of cover.
The untold story of the root cause of America's education crisis--and the seemingly endless cycle of multigenerational poverty. It was only after years within the education reform movement that Natalie Wexler stumbled across a hidden explanation for our country's frustrating lack of progress when it comes to providing every child with a quality education. The problem wasn't one of the usual scapegoats: lazy teachers, shoddy facilities, lack of accountability. It was something no one was talking about: the elementary school curriculum's intense focus on decontextualized reading comprehension "skills" at the expense of actual knowledge. In the tradition of Dale Russakoff's The Prize and Dana Goldstein's The Teacher Wars, Wexler brings together history, research, and compelling characters to pull back the curtain on this fundamental flaw in our education system--one that fellow reformers, journalists, and policymakers have long overlooked, and of which the general public, including many parents, remains unaware. But The Knowledge Gap isn't just a story of what schools have gotten so wrong--it also follows innovative educators who are in the process of shedding their deeply ingrained habits, and describes the rewards that have come along: students who are not only excited to learn but are also acquiring the knowledge and vocabulary that will enable them to succeed. If we truly want to fix our education system and unlock the potential of our neediest children, we have no choice but to pay attention.
All the tips and tools you need to realize the goal of balanced literacy learning. Students learn to read and write best when their teachers balance literacy instruction. Best-selling authors Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and Nancy Akhavan help you strike the right balance of skills and knowledge, reading and writing, small and whole group instruction, and direct and dialogic instruction, so that all students can learn to their maximum potential. Using this essential guide, tap your intuition, collaborate with your peers, and put the research-based strategies embedded within to work in your classroom for a strong and successful balanced literacy program.
The Common Core State Standards encourage teachers to use close reading as a means to help students access complex text. Many literacy experts believe close reading has the power to create strong, independent readers. But what does that really mean, and how does it work in the classroom?This book is your must-have guide to getting started! It provides step-by-step strategies and scaffolds for teaching close reading and improving students’ comprehension of complex texts. You will learn how to teach close reading based on text type, how to transition students through increasingly challenging texts, and how to use close reading as a springboard for close writes and close talks. Special Features: • An easy-to-use framework for creating a close reading lesson • Close reading strategies for a variety of literary and informational subgenres • Ideas for teaching close reading to meet specific comprehension objectives based on the Common Core, including analyzing text structure and evaluating argument • Suggestions for helping students read with increased levels of rigor • A clear explanation of what text complexity really means and how it varies by student • Scaffolds to help students at all ability levels do a close reading • Guidelines and procedures for close talks—purposeful, focused discussions about text • Procedures for close writes that vary based on genre and student ability level In addition, each chapter includes study guide questions to help you apply the ideas in the book to your own classroom. With this practical book, you will have all the tools you need to make close reading a reality!
Unlock the power of informational text using proven, research-based strategies and techniques to support rich and rigorous instruction. Written by popular literacy expert, Lori Oczkus, this resource provides useful tips, suggestions, and strategies to help students read and understand informational text effectively and support the implementation of today's standards. It includes practical, concrete lessons with teacher modeling, guided and independent practice, and informal assessments that can be used in the classroom right away. this is a must-have resource for all teachers!
This book focuses on the quantitative and qualitative factors of text complexity as well as the ways in which readers can be matched with texts and tasks. It also examines how close readings of complex texts scaffold students understanding and allow themto develop the skills necessary to read like a detective. --from publisher description
"What does interpretation really mean? What does it look like in the classroom? How can we effectively teach students at all reading levels to be successful at constructing interpretations?"-- Back cover.
People have taken dangerous risks trying to fly. Some inventors built wings for their arms and flapped them like birds. Some built balloons. Some built machines that glided with the wind. It wasn't easy, though, and it took a long time and much experimentation until people invented the airplane. Read and find out how people learned to fly.
Discover how you use your five senses, sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch to learn about the world. In this classic Level 1 Let's-Read-and-Find-Out picture book, Aliki uses simple, engaging text and colorful artwork to show young readers how they
